EDITORIAL The world has turned upside down Dear readers, the world seems to have turned upside down in these times: In Syria a bitter civil war has been raging for years. Since 2003 Islamic State,acting as a terrorist Sunni militia, has not only been active in Iraq and Syria, but has also spread fear and terror worldwide with terrorist attacks. In Turkey President Erdogan is gaining more and more power, visibly pushing the country in the direction of a dictatorship. In Europe, Great Britain has pitted itself sharply against the European Union with Brexit and by so doing is stoking the flames for the nascent right-wing populist parties, which seem to be winning seats in more and more parliaments. And then there are the two great potentates, Putin and Trump. One casually annexes Crimea while the other – barely in office – is quickly following up his threats with actions in matters of protectionist trade and investment policies. And in general he is behaving like a bull in a china shop – without regard to existing agreements and treaties. But getting back to the USA: There is a climate of great uncertainty in industry, quickly leading to a reluctance to invest. Thus even before Trump took office, from January to October 2016, exports from Germany, one of the major trading partners of the USA, declined by 3.4 %. In the period from August to October, machine exports even fell by 5.8 %. Other countries face similar problems. The course of further developments is unclear. It will depend greatly on how the new president implements what he has announced in actual policy and also whether Congress will simply wave through all the changes. Thilo Brodtmann, General Manager of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA, Verband Deutscher Maschinenund Anlagenbau e.V.), notes confidently, “Isolating the American economy with tariffs and walls would inevitably hurt not only its trading partners, but also the United States itself.” After all, US companies are also tied into global added-value chains and rely on foreign business markets. How the individual conflicts will be resolved is very difficult to predict. But we will experience how worldwide industry is responding in the coming months at some important trade fairs in the near future: The leading trade fair for the next generation of production starts in March in Istanbul with WIN Eurasia, while the Hannover trade fair will attract the world to Germany again in April to the largest event for mechanical engineering in the world. The most important innovations related to drives and automation technology will be on display here. This edition already has a small foretaste of what you can expect. Here too the world has turned upside down – not politically, but with technological innovations. Wishing you enjoyable reading, Dirk Schaar Editorial Director Meike Sauer Deutsche Messe AG MOTION, DRIVES & AUTOMATION Editorial director: Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Dirk Schaar Email: d.schaar@vfmz.de Editor-in-chief: Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Michael Pfister Email: m.pfister@vfmz.de Editorial board: Peter Becker B.A., Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Nicole Steinicke Assistant editor: Svenja Stenner, Email: s.stenner@vfmz.de Design/Layout: Sonja Schirmer, Doris Buchenau, Anette Fröder, Mario Wüst Epaper designer: Katja Rüdell, Mathias Göbel Managing editor: Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Winfried Bauer Publishing house: Vereinigte Fachverlage GmbH Lise-Meitner-Str. 2, 55129 Mainz, Germany Commercial Register No.: HRB 2270, District Court of Mainz VAT-ID: DE149063659 Managing director: Dr. Olaf Theisen Publishing director: Dr. Michael Werner, Email: m.werner@vfmz.de Correspondent India: Sushen Haresh Doshi M.Sc. Advertising sales director: Beatrice Thomas-Meyer Email: b.thomas-meyer@vfmz.de Advertising sales manager: Oliver Jennen, Email: o.jennen@vfmz.de Sales representatives Austria Heinz-Joachim Greiner Email: verlagsbuero-greiner@vfmz.de China, India Oliver Jennen, Email: o.jennen@vfmz.de France Marc Jouanny Email: marc-jouanny@wanadoo.fr Great Britain, Ireland Roberto Tondina Email: roberto@ts-communications.co.uk Italy, Switzerland Hermann Jordi Email: info@jordipublipress.de Sweden, Finland, Norway Malte Mezger Email: verlagsbuero-mezger@vfmz.de USA, Canada Bill Fox, Email: bfox@hfusa.com Advertising disposition: Annemarie Benthin, Email: a.benthin@vfmz.de In cooperation with: Hannover Fairs International GmbH Messegelände, 30521 Hannover, Germany Additional Partners: Fachverband Antriebstechnik im VDMA Fachverband Fluidtechnik im VDMA Fluid Power Association of India Moskauer Deutsche Zeitung Internet: www.en.engineering-news.net 8 th year (2017)